Historians tend to write about people who are no longer with us, and that has certain advantages, UW-Madison history professor Jeremi Suri says.
“A dead person can’t try to manipulate you. A dead person also can’t argue with you. And it’s a little easier to be objective when you don’t have to confront that person,” Suri said.
Getting together with the very alive Henry Kissinger, by contrast, involved all of the above for Suri. In spades.